This article contains a discussion of suicide.

Warning: If you haven’t finished watching all three seasons of Netflix’s “Squid Game,” including the final season released on July 27, stop reading now. Spoilers ahead!

In the first two seasons of “Squid Game,” a groundbreaking South Korean TV series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, a character known as “the Recruiter” is introduced. Portrayed by Gong Yoo, the Recruiter’s backstory remains largely hidden, but it is revealed that he previously worked as a guard in the clandestine games. These events transpire on an isolated island, where 456 players fight for their lives to win a staggering 4.56 billion won — a fortune that can resolve countless problems. The Recruiter’s role is to track down individuals in dire financial straits, enticing them to play a spontaneous game of ddakji, a Korean game where players throw paper cards to flip those of another color. He continually raises the stakes until the participant accumulates insurmountable debt. This is when he introduces the deadly games as a solution to their woes.

Gong Yoo’s character, the Recruiter, completes his journey in Season 2 after a run-in with supporters of the main character, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae). His storyline concludes with his suicide, and as the original “Squid Game” series wraps up, a new Recruiter emerges. Surprisingly, the new Recruiter is played by Cate Blanchett, a two-time Academy Award-winning actress often hailed as the stellar performer of her era.

Yeah, that sure is Cate Blanchett as the Recruiter in the last few minutes of the third and final season of “Squid Game” — and more to the point, she exchanges pointed eye contact with Lee Byung-hun’s character Hwang In-ho, who we know is the Front Man that controls the games as a whole, so she’s a known entity.

Blanchett, of course, is one of our best living actors. With two Oscars under her belt — for her turn as Katharine Hepburn in “The Aviator” and the titular role of Jasmine in “Blue Jasmine,” respectively — and nominations for “Elizabeth,” “Notes on a Scandal,” “I’m Not There,” “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” “Carol,” and “Tár,” she’s also one of our most celebrated performers … and despite her overwhelming acting accolades, she also somehow finds time for popcorn fare like “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Ocean’s 8.” (Of course, she’s brilliant in both.)

On the small screen, Blanchett has appeared on shows like “Documentary Now,” “Mrs. America,” and “Disclaimer,” but the fact that she very well could be the new face of “Squid Game,” so to speak, is enormous for the franchise. Add in the fact that a spin-off is apparently in the works, and it sure seems like Blanchett will be joining this twisted world.

In October of 2024, it was announced that David Fincher, one of the most revered directors in Hollywood who created masterpieces like “Zodiac,” “The Social Network,” and “Se7en,” is working on some sort of “Squid Game” show, which is yet another exciting development for the apparent “Squid Game” franchise coming our way. Fincher and Cate Blanchett, as it happens, worked together in 2008 on “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” so Blanchett’s mere presence in the series finale sure seems to indicate that she and Fincher will be the ones at the forefront of this spin-off. It’s also not out of the question that Lee Byung-hun could return as the Front Man, especially because, as we mentioned, the finale goes to great pains to make it clear that the two know each other.

In any case, based on the overwhelming worldwide success of “Squid Game,” it’s not surprising that it’ll continue on past the original outing. What is a little surprising is the caliber of talent it’s attracted to expand the universe. Until we get more stories set in this world, “Squid Game” is streaming on Netflix now.

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